


I Looked at the Skies

by anothermistakemade



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Fighting, Flawless, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Violence, War, author felt offended by the heteronormativity in the original book so she just rewrote it, basically a third wizarding war, delphi's still here but a different character entirely, hermoine is a perfect minister of magic, i predict violence, like we gotta defrost this shit, not beta'd because of who the author is as a person, pansexual james potter, platonic scorbus cuddles, the cursed child but it doesn't do you wrong, title from a bee gees song but also the suicide squad remix, which shows how little the author knows about herself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-15 01:31:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11220453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothermistakemade/pseuds/anothermistakemade
Summary: "I finally died, which started the whole world living."Hogwarts was safe for the first time since Tom Riddle had walked through its doors. It didn't need wards nor did it need anyone to protect it. The students inside could sleep soundly in their beds, knowing that the threat was gone once and for all.Harry Potter felt safe for the first time since those innocent first days of Hogwarts. He knew his loved ones were safe. He could sleep soundly knowing that.Albus Potter has never felt unsafe. Scorpius Malfoy has never felt unsafe. Rose Weasley has never felt unsafe.Maybe Harry's a bad luck charm for Hogwarts. Maybe it's because he returned as a professor that danger infiltrated Hogwarts' doors again. Maybe it's his fault that there's someone out there seeking to kill them all. There's no sides this time. There's no choice. There's just death.-Or, the Cursed Child, but with a Third Wizarding War, more imminent death, and overall darkness.Inspiration: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=20zlZxdSWCE





	1. One.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're like me, the Cursed Child was a bit disappointing. Here's a more drawn-out, lengthy, proper war that's just as lovely and destructive as the first, featuring teen angst. 
> 
> The title and basic inspiration from this story came from this lovely fan-made trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=20zlZxdSWCE   
> I thought the imagery was beautiful, along with the apocalyptic undertones, and the reimagined Delphi. Unfortunately, there's no Drarry in this fic, sorry guys. 
> 
> Please keep an eye on the tags as they will feature warnings/triggers as they appear. They will also be stated before every chapter.

"They can't just release them, Harry, you have to stop them."

"I don't have any control over it, Ginny, not since I retired from my position."

"I still think that was a bad decision."

"Clearly."

"They're going to live normal lives, Harry, former Death Eaters--"

"They aren't going to live 'normal lives,' Ginny--"

"Eavesdropping on Mum and Dad again?" Albus nearly jumped out of his skin at his brother's voice. 

"It's hard not to when they fight so loud," Albus scoffed, trying not to look shaken. 

"Bollocks, Al, you're just nosy," replied James, yanking his younger brother up from his sitting position at the top of the stairs. "Go to bed, we leave tomorrow morning. Early."

"If Mum even lets us go back to Hogwarts," Albus grumbled, mostly to himself. He let himself be pulled back towards his and James' room. "Are they really releasing Death Eaters from Azkaban?"

"I've no idea, Alby."

"Bull. You have to know something," Albus' tone carried clear desparity. 

"Why do you even want to know? Thinking about joining them, are we, Slyth?" James snorted, ruffling Albus' hair before shoving him into his bed. 

"Shut up, James," Albus snapped. "I'm just curious. Mum seems to be really bothered by it."

"There's word that most Death Eaters were, erm, coerced," James sighed, reaching up and pulling the cord to the ceiling light. 

"Isn't it funny how wars end up?" Albus wondered, tucking himself into bed. "I mean, we won, so we jailed everyone on the other side without second thought. And if they'd have won, they'd have done the same."

"We jailed them because they were bad people, Albus," James said, voice muffled by the pillow his face was stuck in. 

"They'd say the same thing about us," Albus was more thinking out loud than talking to James, his words frequently interrupted by loud yawns. It really was late. 

"Stop talking like the heir of Voldemort's best friend and go to sleep, Slyth."

"How come you can call me Slyth but I can't call you Gryff? Or maybe Gryffin. There aren't enough vowels in Gryff."

Albus could barely make out the shape of a middle finger sticking up from his brother's bed.


	2. Two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peep me trying to make delphi look all innocent and cute...
> 
> also, i feel like it's worth noting that i'm not shitting on the cursed child, as a couple of you guys seem to think, but rather i'm just reconstructing a piece of literature that i found to be weak in some places. as an author, it's my instinct to fix parts of books that i didn't like.

"Mum... living with us?"

"...doesn't want..."

"James!"

"...I wrong?"

"...not discuss... right now..."

"Albus? ...listening?"

Albus pulled the headphones out of his ears. "What, Dad?"

"I asked if you were listening," Harry repeated, pushing his daughter's cart along King's Cross platform. Lily, about to enter her third year, sat atop it, as she had done nearly every year since James started at Hogwarts. 

"I am now," replied Albus, hastily shoving his headphones back into his pocket while also trying to push his trolley. 

"I was saying that your fifth year is very important; you're starting to grow up," Harry began, sounding a bit too sentimental for Albus' taste. "Just make good choices, alright? And remember that I'll always be on campus if you need me."

"What he really means is he was fighting Voldemort his fifth year, so try not to get too wasted," James snorted, using some sort of spell to push his trolley along. He kept a hand lazily perched on the handle to fool any suspicious Muggles, but Albus could tell he wasn't using any effort. Ever since his seventeenth birthday, James hadn't used effort for anything. "I'd tell you not to get anyone pregnant, but to do that, you'd have to get laid."

"Sod off, James," Albus scoffed as his father scolded his eldest son. 

"Fifteen is... too young," Harry said as Albus cringed as hard as he could. Lily, who knew better than to try and listen to the conversation, seemed conveniently distracted by the trains passing by. 

"Didn't you start dating Cho Chang in your fifth year, Dad? Wasn't she, like, really fit?" James was pushing his father, a favorite activity of his. Without Ginny there, he was unstoppable, since his fear of his father didn't outweigh his need for satisfaction. "So, that means--"

"James," Harry's voice held the warning tone that worked much better on his kids when they were younger. "Keep going and no wand for the train ride."

The group travelled in silence until Platform 9 3/4. Lily squealed as usual as her father pushed the trolley she was on into the wall, disappearing into it. 

"Hey," James caught Albus' arm before he began running towards the wall, "don't take Dad's advice this year, alright? Have some fun. And," James took a moment to look around and make sure nobody saw him talking to his lame little brother, "promise me you'll knock on my door before you knock on his."

Albus, unused to his brother being humane, simply nodded, before running onto the platform. 

He was promptly nearly run over by Scorpius. 

"AL!" Scorpius squeaked happily, wrapping his arms tightly around Albus' torso. 

"Missed you, too," Albus laughed, feeling warm at the thought of Scorpius genuinely missing him. 

"Scorpius," The blond boy released Albus as soon as he heard his father's voice. He glanced back at his father, looking solemn, Scorpius' trunk next to him. 

"I'll see you on the train," Scorpius said quickly, giving Albus another brief, but bone-crushing hug. Before Albus could react, Scorpius was skittering off to his father. 

"Voldy's son really is queer," James, who Albus had not noticed was standing behind him, muttered. "In both definitions of the word."

"Don't call him that," Albus said softly, watching fondly as Scorpius said his goodbyes to his father. "Either of those things." 

"He's got a nice arse, though," James mused. He shrugged when Albus looked at him with a slack jaw. "What? It's my seventh year, it's a year of sexual exploration."

"Yeah, well please avoid exploring my underage friends," Albus narrowed his eyes at his brother, keeping them strictly on James and not on Scorpius' aforementioned ass. 

"Friend," James corrected snarkily. "Singular. You've only got one."

"All the more reason for you not to sleep with him," Albus snapped, grabbing his trunk as passive-aggressively as he could. 

"So you admit Voldemort Jr. might be into dudes," James teased, gaze drifting back to Scorpius speaking to his father. "Hope he doesn't turn out like his dad. He's a git."

"Voldemort or Draco Malfoy?" Albus asked sarcastically, playing into James' harassment. 

"Either. Both."

"Get on the train, asshole."

"Ooh, Muggle curse words, you're so cool, Alby," James droned, voice dripping with satire. 

"Don't you have better things to do than bother your brother?"

"You're absolutely right, Alley Cat."

*

Albus sat in his seat, anxiously waiting for Scorpius to slide open the door to the compartment. Train rides with Scorpius were the highlight of his year. Candy, story-telling, and, if they'd gone three months without one another as they had this summer, maybe platonic cuddling (Albus never told anyone they did that-- it was too hard to explain). 

"Albus!" And there Scorpius was, excitedly throwing open the compartment door and practically tackling Albus. "We should've hung out this summer," Scorpius whined, placing his head on Albus' shoulder. 

"My parents were being uptight about the Death Eaters being released," Albus sighed. "More specifically, my mum. She and Dad have been fighting. I think it's about how the Death Eaters are starting to be released, she's scared for us. But Dad has nothing to do with it, especially not now that he's going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts here. Mum didn't even want to move to Hogwarts with him, so now she's living all on her own and I don't know if she'll even come to visit for holiday."

"That sucks," Scorpius mumbled, sounding half-asleep. 

"Are you going to sleep? I'm pouring my heart out to you and you're gonna take a nap?" Albus tried to be mad, but couldn't. 

"Mmm," Scorpius was out. 

"Merlin, the train hasn't even started," Albus scolded, shoving Scorpius off of him. He let the boy lay across one bench and moved to the other. Scorpius' sleeping pattern was something that always both drove Albus insane and confused him. While Scorpius could never sleep at night in his bed, and spent the night hours studying or reading, he always napped in the strangest places. Albus once found him laying on the highest branch of a tree in the Forbidden Forest, snoring. After that, he had interrogated Scorpius about his sleeping habits, but the boy just shrugged and said that when he wanted to sleep, he couldn't, and when he didn't want to, he did.

*

It started to rain almost as soon as the train left the station. Dark, thundering clouds blanketed the sky even before they reached the countryside. Raindrops flung themselves against the window of the compartment, making snapping noises so loud Albus was shocked that Scorpius slept through it. Every now and then, lightening would strike, illuminating the floor of the train. The thunder that followed gave Albus the chills. Usually, he loved to watch the rain, but he felt a strange sense of foreboding lurking in this storm. 

"Is it raining?" Scorpius asked quietly, rubbing his eyes. 

"Mhm," answered Albus, gaze trained on the grassy field passing by. For a split second, he could've sworn that he saw a person, dressed in all black, standing outside and watching the train. He convinced himself it was just a trick of the light, until he saw it again, a figure just standing there, its grotesque and mangled face hidden beneath its hood. It took a step towards the train, causing Albus to gasp, before it disappeared. 

"You ok?" Scorpius followed Albus' gaze out the window. 

"Yeah," Albus shook his head and scooted away from the window. There was nothing out there, the rain was just making illusions. "I'm just tired, I guess. I just could've sworn I saw--"

"Hi," Albus nearly jumped at the voice of a girl who had noiselessly opened the door to their compartment. "Mind if I sit in here? I got kicked out of my last compartment."

Albus knew who the girl was-- Delphi Lestrange, the only student at Hogwarts who was a bigger loser than him and Scorpius. James said she was a freak, that she talked to herself, performed Dark Magic and never washed her hair. Albus had always felt bad for her, since he knew what it was like to be picked on. If it weren't for Scorpius, he'd be just like Delphi, friendless and mocked. 

"Yeah, of course. Delphi, right?" Albus tried to push all the rumors he'd heard about her out of his head. He could feel Scorpius glaring at him. 

"Yes. Aren't you the Potter boy? The middle one?" Albus nodded. "And you, you're Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius didn't say anything, he just kept glaring at Albus. Albus knew his friend was wary of meeting new people, since they usually thought he was the offspring of the most evil wizard who had ever lived, but Albus doubted Delphi was stupid enough to believe in that. She wasn't like everyone else, she knew what it was like for people to create horrible rumors about you. 

"That's a pretty wicked storm out there," Albus commented, trying to ignore Scorpius' intensified glares as Delphi sat suspiciously close to the blond boy. Scorpius scooted away from her. 

"Yeah, it is," Delphi replied, shifting her attention from an uncomfortable-looking Scorpius to the thunderstorm outside. She played with a curl of hair that sat on her shoulder. He'd seen photos of Bellatrix Lestrange, and Delphi really looked just like her. They had the same pale complexion, but red eyes, and the same poofy black hair. The main difference was their eyes-- Bellatrix's always looked bloodshot and crazed, but Delphi's were tamed. Maybe she got them from her father. 

Albus attempted small talk throughout the rest of the train ride, but failed. Scorpius refused to speak, and Delphi was a bit too awkward to keep up a conversation with. He didn't see any more dark figures outside the window, but the fear the others left behind remained, along with a sickening sense of foreboding. 

By the time the train pulled into the station, Albus had fallen asleep, head leaning against the window.


	3. Three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bit shorter but also more dramatic™
> 
> i expect most chapters to be around the length of the last chapter but i'm incredibly inconsistent so who knows, really. 
> 
> the dream sequence in the beginning was supposed to be in italics but i'm on mobile and it's being an ass, so. the dream sequence ends at the asterisk (*).

"ALBUS! ALBUS!"

Scorpius was screaming. 

"ALBUS, PLEASE! HELP ME!"

Black tendrils snuck up the boy's calves, leaving a thick black goo in its wake. They reached his waist and snaked tightly around it, yanking Scorpius further down into a puddle of thick tar. 

"ALBUS! ALBUS!"

The black tentacles wove around Scorpius' arms, pulling them taut against his torso. The boy thrashed about, but whatever he was sinking in was too thick to allow much movement. Pure panic and fear was evident on his face as the tar rose and the tentacles climbed higher and higher. Upon reaching his neck, the tentacles crept around in circles until Scorpius' throat was surrounded, and they pulled tighter and tighter until he was gasping for breath. 

"It's going to be okay," Albus hardly believed the words pouring out of his mouth. "I'm going to help you."

Albus felt a hand grab his. It was cold, and its nails were uncomfortably long. He looked at the hand, eyes trailing up to the scabbed knuckles and fishnet-clad arm to see Delphi, wild hair sticking up like a halo around her head, smiling. "Scorpius will be okay." Her voice, much more eerie than before, rang in his ears. She wore black lipstick, which contrasted against her white, slightly crooked, teeth. And then there were her eyes-- Merlin, her eyes-- they were Bellatrix's, huge and mad and desperate for something that Albus couldn't discern. 

And then Delphi kissed him, hard and fast, eyelids fluttering down over her mother's eyes. It elicited a strange feeling in the pit of Albus' stomach, making him feel both sick and comfortable. The icy hand remained clutching his, a cold and calming presence. He could feel her black lipstick, slick like oil, rubbing off on his lips, his cheek, his neck. He closed his eyes, but the image of her remained, similing and telling him Scorpius will be okay. 

"ALBUS! OPEN YOUR EYES, ALBUS!" 

Why was he kissing her? He barely knew her, and Scorpius was dying, so why was he kissing her? Why did she kiss him? Was she hurting Scorpius? Was it her fault, or his own?

As soon as the doubt manifested in his head, Delphi's hand grew impossibly hot. Albus gasped, feeling the sizzling of his own flesh, and shoved Delphi away from him. She had burned him where she touched him, welts rising up on his palm. But instead of blood, they were full of the black tar that was on Delphi's lips and that was eating Scorpius. 

"Scorpius?" Albus' voice came out like a whisper, though he tried to scream. Scorpius was gone. Frantically, Albus turned to face Delphi, acting on the feeling in his gut that told him she was responsible for this, but she was gone. 

"Albus, come on!" He turned around quickly to see James rushing towards him, Lily limp in his arms. Albus heart dropped as he watching Lily's head rock slowly along with James' step. Could his best friend and his sister both be gone? "Albus, we have to go!"

"But what about..." Scorpius' name fell silent on his lips. Was he dead? Did he just watch his only friend die?

"Go," Harry had appeared by Albus' side, the black tentacles rapidly jumping up his legs and yanking him knee-deep into the tar. 

"Dad!" Albus cried, determined to help his father. He grabbed his arms, but Harry didn't move. "Dad, give me your hands, I can pull you up!"

"Leave with James. Go," His father's voice remained cool, even as he was pulled up to his waist in tar. 

"What happened to Scorpius? I won't leave without him," Albus asked, feeling hot tears forming in his eyes. His friends, his family-- they were dropping like flies. Soon it'd be just him. He'd be all alone. 

"I'm here," Behind Harry, Scorpius appeared, hand in hand with Delphi. Smoke rose from their hands, like they were both burning each other, but neither was bothered. Scorpius was covered in black tar, smudged on his lips, his chest, his hair. 

"Don't trust them, come with me," James said, his tone neutral. 

"We can help you," Delphi's voice rang throughout Albus' head. Hers was also eerily indifferent. 

"I can't-- I just, I don't...." Albus looked from Delphi and Scorpius' interlocked hands to James holding his unconscious sister and back again. 

"James," Albus looked down in horror to see his father up to his chin in tar. "Always choose James."

*

"ALBUS! ALBUS!" Albus woke with a start, bolting upright and banging heads with Scorpius, who was straddling him and had been shaking his shoulders violently. 

"Merlin," Scorpius mumbled, scooting to the foot of the bed and holding his forehead. 

"What happened?" Albus asked, out of breath. He was in his bed, tucked under heavy Slytherin covers, the curtains pulled around the four posts. It was dark, but he could see the moonlight shining in from the window through the curtains. "Why am I-- I don't understand, I was just--"

"Nightmare," said Scorpius, sporting a red bruise near his hairline. "You were screaming so loud I had to cast a Silencing Spell on your bed before the whole Slytherin house came to beat us up."

"Scorpius..." Albus whispered as he screwed his eyes shut. He could still see Delphi standing next to him, wicked smile on her lips. His eyes flew open again, desperate to escape the image that would haunt him for weeks. His gaze landed on Scorpius' worried expression. 

"What was it about?" Scorpius asked, sitting cross-legged with his back against the footboard. 

"I was in this pond of tar, and... and..." The details of the dream, once distant, hit Albus full force. He looked at Scorpius, half expecting him to be covered in black goo. He stared at his friend's face, remembering how it had contorted in pain as he struggled for breath, and how it had looked calmly at him as his hand was singed. 

Before he knew what he was doing, Albus had flung himself forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Scorpius' torso. Scorpius silently hugged Albus back, the sound of his breathing and the feeling of his chest rising and falling bringing Albus comfort. 

"It didn't mean anything," Scorpius whispered, letting Albus curl up like a dog in his lap. "Whatever happened, it didn't mean anything. It's okay, Al, everything's okay. It wasn't real."

Albus nodded, burying his face in his hands in order to hide the fact that he was crying. His dream had felt too real, and reality felt too much like a dream. What the hell did it mean? That Delphi was going to date him and then Scorpius and wear the same black lipstick when kissing them both?

Somehow, Albus didn't see Scorpius being able to withstand being in a relationship with Delphi. 

"You should go back to sleep," Albus muttered after a long silence, crawling off of Scorpius and throwing himself back onto his pillow. 

"Yeah," Scorpius opened one of the curtains and slid off of Albus' bed. He was still in his robes, shirt messily untucked and tie half undone. "But I wasn't sleeping, really."

"What do you do at night?" It was a question Albus had always wanted an answer for. From the few times he'd woken up in the night to go to the bathroom, he'd seen Scorpius studying, and sometimes he wasn't even in the dorm. Tonight, he was wearing shoes. 

"I was on a walk," Scorpius shrugged. "I do that, when it's warm."

"Why did you come back?" Albus could feel his eyelids start to droop and suppressed a yawn. 

"I saw someone," Albus closed his eyes, but tried to listen to what Scorpius was saying, "standing the courtyard. It freaked me out, so I came back."

"Oh."

Albus was asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is a bit of a tester to see if you guys are interested in this type of story, so please leave a kudos, comment, etc. so I know if you like it! Thank you xx


End file.
